Statement
Founded in the 1950s, Beijing Friendship Hotel is a diverse and inclusive community of foreign scientists. Yayuan Garden is the theme courtyard that embodies the splendid mark of Friendship Hotel in receiving foreign guests for 70 years. The project team creatively combined cutting-edge laser-point cloud technology and a parametric design process to emphasize the continuous correlation and perfect integration of past memory and modern design, creating a courtyard environment that integrates ecological principles, high-performance sustainable technology, and traditional garden aesthetics. The garden tells the history of this friendship with respect and preservation of the original trees, creating a quiet and soothing environment with a soft water ring as the soundtrack, becoming a widely recognized international community recreational space.
Project Narrative
Yayuan Garden, a vital theme garden inside Friendship Hotel, is a central garden surrounded by five buildings integrating office and residence, which embodies the splendid mark of Friendship Hotel’s reception of foreign guests in the past 70 years. Seventy years of development have given Graceland a lush, tranquil atmosphere, but at the same time, the vegetation has become increasingly cluttered, and the infrastructure has deteriorated. The challenge faced by the team was how to properly transform the rich cultural and natural deposits into a garden space engraved with history to achieve functional regeneration and ecological renewal.
Design process integrating point cloud technology
Despite the restrictions and challenges posed by the original site, Yayuan Garden has introduced a new workflow for garden renovation, guided by parameterized design and based on laser point cloud technology, while maximizing the preservation of the site’s original features and integrity. The result is a seamless integration of trees that have stood for over 70 years with the art of design. The low-carbon landscaping concept, which spans the entire lifecycle, is implemented in the 9,000-square-meter garden using 3D point cloud models that accurately depict site information and enable the precise measurement of parameters such as tree diameter, height, canopy closure, and growth status. This information is then incorporated into the updated site with minimal development, allowing for the perfect fusion of Yayuan Garden’s future and the existing land.
The design process utilizing point cloud technology is not only a communication process with the original site but also a process of listening to the demands of the trees themselves. During the construction of the “Friendship Ring,” the use of parametric design models, 3D printing models, and 5-axis CNC carving allowed for the precise integration of design and construction. Hydraulic simulations at each stage ensured the realization of water features and scenery, resulting in a design that accurately reflects the essence of the original site.